My journey to a healthier ME!!

I decided in December that the year 2013 was going to be the year that I changed my life! Not that I have a bad life, it's great! But it can always be better. And to start of I wanted to get health. Not lose weight necessarily but be healthy. Jimmy and I have 3 beautiful children that are such a blessing in our lives! But we didn't get them easily. Any one who knows me knows that I don't have "easy" pregnancies. With all three of my children I had a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum. ( Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a condition of pregnancy characterized by intractable nausea, vomiting, and dehydration and is estimated to affect 0.5-2.0% of pregnant women.^[1][2] Malnutrition and other serious complications such as fluid or electrolyte imbalances may result. Hyperemesis is considered a rare complication of pregnancy but, because nausea and vomiting during pregnancy exist on a spectrum, it is often difficult to distinguish this condition from the more common form of nausea and vomiting experienced during pregnancy known as morning sickness.)
So in short I pretty much felt like I was on my death bed during my pregnancies. I couldn't even drink water. I would cry because I was so thirsty but knew that it would just come right back up! Now you would think that after the first pregnancy I would never want another baby. But 3 babies later here we are....knowing we will have one more in the future! So I want to be as healthy as I possibly can before I have to go through that again!!

After having Taylor, our oldest, I also learned that I had hypothyroidism. Which explained my EXTREME fatigue and lack of energy. I was told I would have to be on my thyroid medicine for the rest of my life. That did not sit well with me, but I just did as the Dr. said and have taken it ever since. Because of my hypothyroidism I struggled to lose weight after I had Taylor. I went from being 120 lbs when Jimmy and I first got married to 140 after I had Taylor. Then 11 months later I got pregnant with Carson, after I had him my weight fluctuated between 140 and 145. Then after having Cache I initially got back down to 140 but by the time he was about 2 months old the pound started creeping up and up. I hated how I felt, I hated how I looked! I was depressed. I even had one of the boys that we teach in our primary class ask me if I was pregnant as I was sitting there holding my 4 month old baby!!! I decide things had to change, not just for me but for my family also. I told Taylor that we were going to start eating better and exercising. She started crying! She didn't want to exercise! (She didn't really know what it was! LOL) I want to be an example to my kids of what a healthy life style is. So we started eating really healthily, I'm talking green smoothies, no processed foods and very little meat. But even with the change in diet I still wasn't feeling great and just seemed to be putting on the pounds. I had no clothes to wear so Jimmy FORCED me to go shopping! He watched the kids for 3 hours while I went shopping. I went to store after store after store and the only thing I got was a headache and more depressed. I had finally had it and decided I needed to start running! I didn't want to. I've always hated running but I needed to! So I bought a pair of running shoes! And I found myself a wonderful running partner (my cousin, Carin) Carin and I have been doing the couch to 5k program and are training to run a 5k (my 1st) in July. At first it was a little difficult for me. I always felt great after running but my feet were killing me. My back was aching and I was still so tired through out the day, especially by 2 pm I was completely drained! So I decided to go and have my thyroid levels rechecked, I went to the Dr. and guess what they told me?! "You need more meds"  They increased my dosage of the meds I am already taking and wanted to put me on medication for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. I told them I could agree to the increase in my meds but would not take the others! I knew I didn't have either of those conditions and was not going to be drugged up because the Dr. didn't want to really find the problem or a real solution. So I started looking for other options. And I kept remembering something that a friend of mine talked to me about years back. And that was Isagenix. I looked into it a bit but wasn't quite sure if it was really for me. Then a few weeks later I saw a post on a facebook group that I am a part of. and this lady was sharing a story of one of her isagenix team members. She shared her before and after pictures and that compelled me to talk to her about it. I talked to Jimmy about it to find out his thoughts because I also wanted to find something that was going to help him to feel better and have the energy he needs. He told me that whatever I decided, he would support me in it. And so I jumped in! I ordered the product and with in the first few days I could tell a difference! I had more energy, I didn't crave junk food! We made shakes one night with Jimmy's brother and kids and put candy bar bits in. We had almost a whole bag of peanut butter cups left over, normally that bag would have been gone in a few days. I think it lasted a couple of weeks! So I was no longer craving junk and I was losing weight. After using these products for a month I have lost 9 lbs and a total of 22.5 inches over all, and I feel great! I know not everyone might feel that Isagenix is for them but for me it was part of the answer!  Carin and I are on week 6 of our training and I am coming to love running! I'm excited to continue my journey to a healthier me with my healthy eating habits, my running and Isagenix!  I'll continue to post about my goals and progress! So stay tuned and if you have any questions...I'm happy to share!

It's been awhile!

Holy smokes it's been a long time!!! Does anyone even blog anymore?!!!  Wow so much has happened since my last post that I don't even know where to start! Lets see.... we bought a house out in San Tan Valley, AZ. we have been here for just over 2 years! Jimmy is working up in Globe now at the hospital there. It's been good but the drive is killer :( I'm ready for him to be working in the valley again! We got a van... with Jimmy working so far away we decided that we needed a second vehicle. So we got a VW Routan.

The kids are growing up so fast! Taylor will be 5 this November, but acts more like she'll be 15! She has been going to pre-school and just loves it! Her teacher Rondalee Jones is wonderful and she loves her. She'll be going to pre-school for 1 more year because she misses the dead line for kindergarten. But that's ok with me.... I'm not ready to send her off into the world just yet! She is starting dance in August and is really excited about that!

Carson is going to be 3 in a little over a month! And I think his terrible twos will follow him well into this next year of his life. He is such a loving, funny and mischievous little guy! He has a fascination with rocks, water and trucks! Doesn't sound at all like a boy, does he? He loves to tease Taylor but also looks up to her! Taylor spent the night at Nana and Papa's house a few weeks ago and her really missed her!
 
Then there is Cache! Yep that's right!!! There's another one! Cache Allen Martin was born on September 22, 2012. He weighed 8lbs 4oz. our biggest baby yet! He is such a sweet and fun loving little guy. He is 8 month old now and all over the place! He LOVES to eat and LOVES to laugh! Out of all our kids he is the one that we've been able to get to laugh the easiest. Even when he is in a bad mood because he is tired or hungry you can get him to laugh! He loves Taylor and Carson, and he thinks he's one of the big kids and will get right in all the action!

It's definitely busy with three little ones but also a lot of fun!

They're so goofy! ;)

Well I think that's a good start. Be looking for more posts to come! I hope to be better now that we finally have a new computer!!!

A Day at The Park!

Taylor LOVES going to the park! We haven't been a lot this year because Jimmy works so late and it's not always easy to take the kids by myself because it's hard to carry Carson around and chase Taylor around at the same time. But when we are able to go Taylor has so much fun! She LOVES going down the slides, the big twisty one is her favorite! This day was actually her birthday, Jimmy has Tuesdays off so we decided to take her for a fun day at the park!

We love our little monkey!

Taylor's 2!!!

Okay, I've really slacked off on this I'm a month behind so I need to get this done before Christmas!!!

Taylor turned 2 years old last month (November 9th)! I can't believe how fast these past two years have gone by. I found myself looking at pictures of her the other day, from when she was a baby and it seems like it was just yesterday! Seriously I can remember it all so clearly and now she's 2 and often acts like she's 22! Anyway, for Taylor's birthday we took her to the Phoenix Zoo! She had so much fun seeing all the animals and riding the train! After the Zoo we came back home and had a little birthday party with pizza, cake and presents!!! She definitely got spoiled, but that's what birthdays are for, right? Since her birthday was on a Tuesday we did most of the activities and celebrating on the Saturday before her birthday. Jimmy had Tuesday off so we decided to take Taylor to the park (which is another one of her favorite things to do!) She had a lot of fun and wore herself out!

Taylor is such a sweet little girl, she can be a handful at times but she's a lot of fun! We're so grateful for her and all that she brings to our little family. She is so happy and full of life all the time, and has the BIGGEST imagination! We love her so much!!!

Taylor and cousin Lyla!

On the train with Uncle David!

She wasn't too sure about the carousel at first but as long
as she held onto daddy she was fine!

They have a petting zoo there and Taylor loved riding on the "horse"


Taylor and Lyla trying to get the horse to come over to them!


That tourtise is as big as Taylor!

The whole gang!

Taylor and Lyla brushing the goat!


By the end they were so worn out!




She loved her elephant cake!!

Halloween!!!

Ok, so I know I'm a bit behind but life has been crazy busy lately! Anyway, since Halloween was on a Sunday this year we didn't really do a whole lot of trick-or-treating. Instead we went to our ward Halloween party on Saturday and they did end up having a few houses on the street set up for trick-or-treating. Then after the party we went trick-or-treating at Nana and Papa's house (which is where Taylor got most of her loot!) Nana gave her handful after handful of candy. Needless to say Taylor was THRILLED!!! Oh and just a side note... I think that Halloween should be like Labor Day... you know how Labor Day is the first Monday of September...I think Halloween should always be the last Friday in October! Who do I talk to about this??!! :)



Taylor was an ASU cheerleader (I couldn't find pom poms
anywhere, so I made some our of Christmas garland!)
I think it turned out pretty cute!

Carson was a football!

Jimmy and I where football players

Taylor's Cheerleader stunt!


Nana bought Carson a cute little puppy dog costume, He
wore it to sunday dinner at Nana and Papa's house.

I'm so excited about this!!!!!

I just found out that Shutterfly is offering this great promotion and HAD to share!!! They are offering 50 FREE christmas cards to bloggers, which I'm totally excited about. I always say I'll send Christmas cards but I never do. This year I really am going to thanks to Shutterfly! Just go to http://bit.ly/sfly2010 and sign up! While you are there check out the rest of their site. I recently signed up with shutterfly because I've been thinking about making some photo books for my kids to preserve their pictures as they grow! I've also been kicking around the idea of a calendar for the Grandparents which can also be done at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars . I'm excited about this site and about the AMAZING christmas card promotion!!!

All about Carson!

I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Carson will be 4 months old on the 13th! He's getting so big and has such a cute little personality. He loves his big sister Taylor, even though she startles him with her LOUD, high pitched scream (I think he's getting use to it, either that or he's going deaf!) he sleeps right through it most of the time! He loves to watch her dance and play and will smile at her anytime she pays any attention to him. Carson is such a good baby, (there was a period where he was really gassy and fussy but he's getting better) He usually only crys when he's hungry or tired. He is such a cuddler and sometimes he reminds me of a baby monkey the way he cuddles! He LOVES his diaper being changed, whenever we change it (even in the middle of the night) the minute we pull the tabs on the diaper he starts to smile and I can't help but laugh and smile back! He's cooking and laughing a lot more lately it's really fun to see his personality develop!




He always has such a peaceful look on his face!

Such a handsome boy!

He'd rather suck on his hands than his binky!

Taylor was showing him something and he just watched

her intently!

He took the spoon from me....

and tried to feed himself!